I am in the process of building a house and I am getting a custom surround sound system installed. My TV is going in a corner and I am want to get a 6.1 system. I went by a local shop that specializes in custom jobs like this and here is what they recommended since my tv is going in the corner:

All in-ceiling speakers - Phase Technologies
Floor Sub- Phase Technologies
Amp- Marantz SR5001


My concern was with all of the channels being in-ceiling.
They said you can turn the tweeters towards the listeners and it would sound fine.

Anyone have an opinion?
Thanks!

Let me preface my comments by saying that I don't really have experience with in-ceiling speakers for HT use. It seems to me that at least for your front speakers (Left, Center, and Right), that you'd want them to be around the same height as the screen. I know a number of in-ceilings do have aim-able tweeters now and that is supposed to help, but i'm not sure I buy it completely. I'd be tempted to see if they had any other options, at least for those front speakers. It probably wouldn't be as big of a deal with the surrounds. Hopefully someone else can let you know from their experience.

Do you have the option of not paying if it sounds real bad? Or are you required to sign a contract no matter how bad it is?

Ed

Do you have the option of not paying if it sounds real bad? Or are you required to sign a contract no matter how bad it is?

EdI'll make a suggestion, although not exactly the one you are expecting. Personally I find in wall speakers mediocre at best and ceiling speakers for MUZAK only, that's just my opinion. Plus they tend to vibrate the house and therefore can be heard more from the areas of the house that you want to isolate from the sound.

If you are under time constraints, as I always am when I have contractors working, why don't you look at some of the charts on this site regarding proper setup locations and have your contractor run wiring. That will give you time to educate yourself better and won't leave you with holes in your wall or ceiling if you, like most, decide that is not the way you want to go. It is easy to install in-wall speakers later if you still want them.

I had an installer suggest the same thing to me. I did get a few different opinions though and the other two suggested good ol' floorstanders for front, a center speaker and in ceiling for side surrounds and back surrounds.

I wasn't comfortable with all in ceiling speakers. Your room may dictate the setup some, but don't let the dealer/installer talk you into something you don't want to do.

Do you have enough room for front inwall or floorstanders? I would guess inwalls are out due to the corner placement of your TV.

It's your system so do what you want!;)

as a former installer...........front floor standers with a regular old center. I like watching movies.........can't stand the voice of god effect the in-ceiling fronts do. I do not know what the room layout looks like and maybe that is why they recommended in-ceilings for the rears as well. the biggest problem with doing a corner TV and in-ceiling spkrs is that its hard to line them up so they look good as well. joists might not line up correct or vents or electrical conduit might be in the way. if there is a way that you could draw up a picture of what the room will look like and where walls are with dimensions more people on the forum could probably help a bit better

Thanks for the help so far guys!
Here is the room layout.

I see your problem. In ceiling for side and/or rear surrounds are probably the best.

Is that a window next to the door on the bottom of the drawing? If not I may try and put the TV and floor standers next to the door or at least slide it out a little from the wall so you can have speakers along each side. Many floorstanders now are very thin and tall and could work if you have a tight space. Definitive and Paradigm I know have some nice stuff which could work.

Fireplaces are difficult to work around when you have a second focal point such as a TV. Whatever you do don't put a flat panel TV above the fireplace.:rolleyes:

you can leave the TV in the corner. The room is nicely setup as well. Like wHaCkY said, go with some floor standers up front. If they are wider its not the worst thing in the world. Pull out the TV stand a bit further and it gives you more room for a decent sized subwoofer in the corner. One less piece of equipment you have to look at but in a corner so it should give you good LFE ooomph in a room so open to the rest of the house. I would put surround right slightly behind and to the right of the blue chair. Surround left behind the last chair on the semi-circle couch. In a room so big 6.1/7.1 wouldnt be bad. You could even get a stereo speaker that will do both channels. If you do in-ceilings though, there will absolutely be cuts in the drywall to get the wires into the ceiling. if you go with on-walls there will be some choices to make about position of rears. In the case of your layout, I would definitly go with In-Ceiling for best layout and therefore best surround effect.